The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has approved the request submitted by Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate (SRBATOM), as a technical coordinator with the IAEA, to provide the Veterinary Specialist Institute “Nis” with the equipment for fast detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The equipment, worth 74,464 euros, which is shortly to be delivered to the Veterinary Specialist Institute “Nis”, will improve both the capacities of the institute, and biosafety and biosecurity in general. The donated laboratories comprise Class II and III biosafety cabinets, which will enable the Institute staff to work with highly pathogenic viruses, that is, the viruses with a high risk for the society and members of the society as well. In addition to fast detection, this equipment has another added value – safety and protection of the people working in the laboratories.

The Veterinary Specialist Institute “Nis” is the fourth institution in the Republic of Serbia that, since the onset of the pandemic, the IAEA has provided with RT-PCR packages intended for COVID-19 human testing.

The equipment that the IAEA has delivered so far to the Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Sera “Torlak”, the Scientific Veterinary Institute “Novi Sad”, and the Veterinary Specialist Institute “Kraljevo”, together with the equipment that is to arrive to Nis, amounts to 306,880 euros.